Corey Spaulding v. Natick, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20180260)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 9, 2018 SPR18/260 Timothy Luff Assistant Superintendent Office of Student Services Natick Public Schools 13 East Central Street Natick, MA 01760 I have received your petition on behalf of the Natick Public Schools (School) seeking relief from its obligation to produce responsive records. G. L. c.,66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Department furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10( c ). In a request received by the School on February 2, 2018, Corey Spaulding requested "any and all information, documents, statements, etc. for the cost to Natick School Department in regards to the Spauldings (John, Corey and SS) since June 2013: • Please provide an itemized account of any and all communications with legal counsel regarding the Spaulding matter; write correspondence including letters, emails, sworn affidavits, phone calls, etc. • Provide an itemized account for all court hearings for each year from 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017; including preparation time, interviews, travel, meetings, etc. ------ ------ ~- •--~Jl-:i-G:v-i<ie---an-itemi-zeG-acGGunt-for----all-affida:v-its-that-were-wr-itten-inG-luding-the - __, ~------- affidavit provided to A vi Finder's counsel Attorney Meltzer. Any and all legal costs - assoclatedwrtlil:lie---Av1 Fmder rnatter.·- • Provide the cost to Natick School for cost of Gifford including transportation. • Provide the cost to Natick School Department for BSEA hearings. • Provide any and all dates of training that Superintendent Sanchioni received in bullying prevention from October 2013 to present." Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Timothy Luff SPR18/260 Page 2 March 9, 2018 has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial. response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4 )(b ). · Request for relieff rom obligation to produce responsive records The School is reiterating their "request to relieve us of our obligation to provide these records." The School explains "Ms. Spaulding accounts for at least 60 individual record requests ___ withinJ6 separate emails since JanuaryJOth. . The district views these requests as designed to intimidate or harass." Based on the information provided in the March 2nd petition, I find that the School has not met its burden to demonstrate "the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity" as required by G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). Extension of time to produce responsive records The School requests "an extension of time to complete these requests if applicable." In support of an extension, the School provides the 60 individual records requests made by Ms. Spaulding, as well as the 16 separate responses.

Timothy Luff SPR18/260 Page 3 March 9, 2018 I find that in light of the volume ofrequests and scope of the February 2nd request, the School has established good cause to permit an extension of time of 5 business days. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c)(i)-(iv). Petitions for ability to assess fees Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first two hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4 ). The Supervisor may approve a petition from a municipality to charge for time spent segregating or redacting or to charge in excess of $25 per hour, if the Supervisor determines that 1) the request is for a commercial purpose or 2) the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the municipality to comply with the request, the fee is necessary such that the request could not have been prudently completed without the redaction, segregation or fee in excess of $25 per hour, and the amount of the fee is reasonable and the fee is not designed to limit, deter or prevent access to requested public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(iv). In rendering such a decision, the Supervisor is required to consider the following: a) the public interest served by limiting the cost of public access to the records; b) the financial ability of the requestor to pay the additional or increased fees; and c) any other relevant extenuating circumstances. Id. The School also is seeking a waiver of statutory fees to "segregate and redact records." --~ -'f-he-S-chool-explains-__f_£Mg-;-Spa:ttld-ing-h-as--req-uested---d-o-ctl:Tilents-thatm1:1st-be-regr-ega-ted----and-----------~------ redacted by district personnel." The School further explains since "many of the records she is requesting has confidential information that may require redaction, we are requesting the highest level administrative assistant rate of $30 per hour to complete this task." The School indicated they received the requestor's request on February 2, 2018 and submitted this petition to assess fees over $25 an hour to the Supervisor on March 2, 2018. Given that the School did not submit a timely petition to assess fees over $25 an hour, the petition may not be granted. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4 )(g) (petition to assess fees must be made within ten business day after receipt of a request for public records).

Timothy Luff SPR18/260 Page 4 March 9, 2018 Conclusion Accordingly, I find the District has established good cause for an extension of time for the production of records responsive to the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b ). The School is advised it must provide the records in a manner consistent with this determination, the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the District's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Corey Spaulding -------------- --------~-------~-----·-----------------·----------